If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I purchassed my first hammock and figured I would prefer the bottom entry but all I see here are side zip owners.
I know that the side zip is better for use with insulation but I did not know that when I purchassed it, I feel like I made a mistake.

I love the bottom entry feature. I spent over 100 nights in the woods last year and even more nights to come this year. I love camping but hate sharing my shelter with bugs, especially the blood sucking flying kind. The zipper feature is great for winter use when you have tons of layers on or use a sleeping bag but the zippers are much slower of an entry system than the bottom entry. When I went to Italy last summer I spent 3 months fighting off the various mosquitoes they have there since no body really uses window screens or has air conditioning in the older homes, bugs get inside and a night they eat you alive. I actually spent several nights outside in order to get away from the bugs. I would personally like both options but am very happy with my current set up. The zipper feature is newer and most folks buying them might have never tried the bottom entry to begin with. 2QZQ does mods on the Hennessy and if I really wanted a zipper I would have them do it instead of buying a new one. My theory is that most people just have not tried the bottom entry and just assume the zipper must be better because that is what seems to be most popular. They aren't wrong but it does not mean your hammock is not better or worse.

"Familiarity breeds love.
We don't need to save nature we need to love nature.
The only way people will love nature is if they experience it first hand.
There is no better way to experience nature than participating in it."

"Familiarity breeds love.
We don't need to save nature we need to love nature.
The only way people will love nature is if they experience it first hand.
There is no better way to experience nature than participating in it."

The whole bottom entry thing is what first got me to seriously consider a HH as my first hammock. I do have a side zip version but would still like a bottom entry one for the signature feature and easy of entry/exit. I eventually bought a side entry hammock because I do see the day when I will want some serious under side insulation and I also will want to use the hammock bivvy style at some time.

Come the day I get the notion to have more than one hammock (you can only sleep in one at a time), I will DIY a simple gathered hammock for the opportunity to experiment with mossie nets and tarps and SRLs, first. Then I will be off to get a standard, bottom entry HH for all my original reasons for wanting a hammock over a hike tent.

Still happy with my choice and will do my best to wear the thing out as soon as I can. As a package straight from the company, I'm very happy with the product and have had no need to play with suspension mods or other stuff just yet.

There are some of us with many years experience withthe BE hammocks who have moved to the SE hammocks. For a lot of us it was for these reasons:
Easier place to sit and change shoes.
Much easier to cook from.
Easier options for underquilts.

For a while many thought that SE hammocks didn't have the longevity that BE's had esp. with the bugnet zipper but now after many years of Blackbird use this myth has been dispelled.
And there were a few of us who wore out a SE and looked at the buying options and simply found that the Warbonnet series was more affordable, and now that the DangerBird is available that is even more so.

Having said all of that, if you have a BE hammock and applied the TQ/ZQ mod(s) then you have the best of both worlds and a somewhat heavier price (the velcro bottom and stitching do have some weight you have to carry.

So have I forgotten how a BE feels? NO! I sleep in a backpacker a-sym regular, truthfully only because my inside hammock stand doesnt easily accept a Blackbird or Dangerbird but hopefully I'll get my stand modded soon and remedy that.